Kings and Queens: Dark Side
by Sweet Executioner
Summary: The soldier. The liar. The leader. Clint didn't want it to be serious, but he didn't know enough about her to avoid it. Now, thanks to Loki, he can finally see the other side of the coin. But can he accept it? / HawkeyeXOC , LokiXOC
1. Chapter 1

'Where the hell have you been lately?' Clint asked as he sat on the empty chair opposite of her.

He wore a pair of dark blue jeans and a white shirt, something very different from his usual uniforms. He had the day off so today he wasn't Hawkeye but Clint Barton. The woman he came to meet was a friend of his, and he hadn't really been surprised to be unable to reach her for days. They had some kind of an agreement: no answer means working, therefore that time is inconvenient.

A couple of people turned to look at him so he tried to keep his voice down. 'I tried to call you, I sent you messages, but I got no answer.'

The woman shrugged, her pink eyes stuck on him. 'I was busy,' she replied calmly, taking a sip of her coffee.

'Busy my ass,' Clint noted as he looked out of the window.

'Look, Francis-'

'Don't call me that!'

She didn't want to talk. She didn't want to think. At least she'd said something similar to Clint after they finished their usual fight on the way to his apartment. He closed the door behind him, and there they were again: two strangers, only ending up together to get rid of all the stress keeping secrets had caused them throughout the weeks. They only knew each other's first names, nothing about their jobs, and she had never told him where she lived.

But it was all right, meaning no strings being attached.

Sometimes he wondered if she had anyone back home, a boyfriend or even a husband. But until it worked between the two of them, until they had both enjoyed it, these things didn't matter. Then there was this ever recurring feeling for Natasha. It wasn't love, merely some physical attraction, and after all those days at work, it was just nice to forget about her.

Rila was different. It wasn't _some_ physical attraction with her, she was rather a supermassive black hole that sucked him in once he got too close. Clint had crossed the event horizon the moment he laid his eyes on her, feeling the need growing inside him, his pulse getting quicker and quicker as they got close to his apartment. Now all he wanted was to feel her being close, her warm skin against his fingers as he pulled her into a passionate kiss.

The question about her absence returned later, when they were lying next to each other in bed. He was also curious about her life. What was she doing? Where did she live?

But Rila didn't say anything.

'It's better if you don't know,' she said.

And once again their conversation died. He couldn't talk about S.H.I.E.L.D. and obviously she wasn't about to tell her anything about her life either. Suddenly she turned on her stomach, resting her head on his upper arm as her long fingers ran up and down on his chest.

'You know, I still think it's unfair,' he spoke up again.

'Hm?'

'You know where I live. Can't you just give me a tiny little hint?'

Rila thought about it, and in the end she let out a long sigh. 'I live far far away.'

Looking down at her, Clint let out a quiet laugh. 'Yeah, okay. So you really don't want me to know.' She nodded in response. 'Fine, I'll stop.' She relaxed in his arms and slowly drifted off to sleep. He was staring at the ceiling while listening to her steady breathing, recalling the happening of his latest mission. The faces of those he killed, those he saved, and for a short moment he even thought about Natasha. Would he have a somewhat happier life with her? A life without secrets?

Probably no.

He actually liked keeping secrets, being mysterious, As Clint gave this twisted relationship with Rila a thought, he fell asleep as well. Dreams covered in blood haunted him through the night, waking him hours later only to find the bed empty next to him. She wasn't in the apartment so he called her and got no answer.

He had a really bad feeling about whatever she was hiding.

* * *

**A/N:** Okay, so there is this sci-fi novel I've outlined quite a while ago, and I borrowed Rila from there. And the funny thing is, that the soldier she likes is called Francis - and since Clints middle name is Francis... This chapter is only this short because I'm currently supposed to work on my thesis, but the amount of Hawkeye and Loki feels made me write it. I'll bring more if you like it, possibly revealing a thing or two about Rila.

Feel free to leave a review.


	2. Chapter 2

'Damn it, Francis, calm down, it's only me,' she said quickly, hands raised in defense. Clint twitched slightly when he heard her saying his middle name again, but put down the gun nevertheless. 'I didn't know you had a gun.'

Shrugging, he walked closer to her. This was definitely not the time for stupid lies about the gun. Even though she probably hadn't slept more than three hours, she didn't look tired. Her face was pale, but it had always been, especially when her long black hair was pulled into a tight ponytail like now.

Rila mentioned towards the little brown bags and two paper cups. 'You were sleeping and I didn't want to wake you,' she added.

'So you went out for breakfast?'

'Have you seen your fridge lately? It's empty.'

It was true. With his lifestyle it would have been a waste of money to fill it with proper food, so the fridge only had things such as beer or ice cream inside. Once he had left something in there because the mission lasted longer than expected, and by the time he got home it was already rotten. It took three days to get the smell out of that damn thing.

'Thanks,' he finally said, flashing a boyish smile at her. 'And what did you bring?'

She opened the bag and started to put the goods inside on the counter. Various types of donuts and cupcakes in a neat line, tempting to be eaten right away.

'So much for my diet,' he remarked with a mischievous smile. 'It's not exactly breakfast kind of food you know.'

'Oh, just shut up and eat,' she replied with an equal smile, playfully hitting his upper arm.

As they were having breakfast together, sitting on the barstools by the counter, it became clear he had been afraid of her being gone that morning. It wasn't loneliness he was afraid of, rather the idea of not knowing something. Not knowing why Rila left, while she usually stayed for the next day as well.

In his job, and because of that, in his life he liked keeping everything in check, knowing the amount of details he was supposed to. He might have been called a control freak for this belief but he didn't care. Being in control can save his life one day, so as far as it worked, he had nothing against it.

Now that she was back his thoughts returned to the secrets she was keeping. He both did and did not care about her life... her normal life. Probably it was just interesting, or was caused by the freak thing. Either way, he was interested in her. Why did she wear those pink contacts for example?

But as always, he kept his questions to himself, trying to enjoy this time of normality. Friends with benefits. That's what they were: friends, who were having breakfast in a perfectly normal way. And at this point of his life he valued the word 'normal' more than a couple of things; relationships, just to name one.

This is why he decided to keep his mouth shut most of the time. Yes, his palm was itching, and yes, he wanted to tie her to a chair to finally get everything out of her after another cheeky comment, but he tried to hold himself back. It wouldn't have been worth losing her.

Sometimes he wondered if Natasha suspected anything. Whenever they were sent on a mission together, or met in the S.H.I.E.L.D. headquarters, she was asking about his days off. _'What did you do?' 'You seem tense. Is everything okay?' 'Do you even sleep when you go home?'_ All these questions had been answered in one or two words that only caught her attention even more.

Shortly after the clock had struck eight it turned out today it was him who left earlier. A call from S.H..D. screwed up his plans, but it only took him ten minutes to get out of bed, get dressed, lead Rila out and close the door. He was a professional, he had learned how to get ready to move quickly. Someone had gotten sick, so now he had to stay in the headquarters to babysit the team working on the Tesseract.

'I think I'm gonna stay around for a while,' she started as they were standing next to his car, ' so call me when you have some time, okay?'

He smiled at her, nodded, and told her he would call when he's done.

* * *

Clint knew he was outnumbered by the enemy. He also knew his arrows wouldn't last much longer.

When there was only one left, he jumped off the rooftop, right into the building through one of the windows. The chitauri soldiers didn't enter every single building, but for his biggest misfortune a couple of them had set their feet in the one he was currently in. Getting down to the main entrance was a real nightmare, since he had to check if they were waiting for him on every single floor.

Near the end of his journey, he became somewhat reckless. The alien took him by surprise, and he barely had time to raise his bow and use it as a weapon. It stumbled back from the hit, now standing a few steps away from him.

He was ready to fight. He didn't have much choice of course, but believing it was his decision made it a little bit easier. Clint was literally fighting for his life.

A low, growling sound from near took both of them by surprise. Looking over where the animal was supposed to be, the alien froze and slowly cocked his head to the side. Clint didn't know what to make out of this. Was it afraid? But in that case this beast wasn't one if theirs.

The animal was black with a skin like a snake's, its long, sharp fangs uncovered, eyes burning red. Its pointy ears were barely visible, and in over all it looked like a giant wolf. The big paws slowly moved as the animal closed the gap between the chitauri soldier and itself.

As the soldier raised its weapon, the animal launched the attack, biting through the other alien's throat without hesitation.

Clint was afraid it would attack him as well, so he tightened his grip around the bow. The animal moved, but instead of an attack it grabbed the alien's weapon with its mouth and put it in front of him. It wasn't growling anymore. It was perfectly silent.

They were staring at each other for a while before Clint finally grabbed the weapon. Once he got it in his hand, the animal turned around and ran away.

* * *

**A/N:** Thank you for the favs and reviews! I hope you like this one.


	3. Chapter 3

'Thor, can I ask you something?'

They were in one of the many S.H.I.E.L.D. buildings, waiting for Thor to be ready to take his brother back to Asgard. The demigod was standing in the other end of the room with his back against the cold concrete wall. When Clint finished the sentence he nodded.

'You obviously know more about alien species then we do and...' His voice faded as he began thinking about what to say next. 'Back while we were fighting I saw something. An animal. It was huge, black, with scaly skin, sharp teeth and fangs,' he listed as he recalled those minutes in the building. 'And its eyes... they were red. Do you happen know anything like that?'

Thor nodded, his hand raised to his chin. 'A beast of Exilion. They don't have a proper name,' he finally spoke up, his voice steady and cool . 'What did it do?' he suddenly asked after a short period of silence.

'It killed the chitauri soldier that attacked me on my way to the main entrance, then it gave me the dead soldier's gun. I mean, it seems so strange, and alien animal helping me out on the battlefield.' The Asgardian remained silent so Clint took a deep breath and asked the first question that popped in his mind. 'How did it even get here?'

'It is not important. I am more concerned about the reason why it is here on Earth,' he replied, his expression serious. 'Still, I have a feeling we will soon get the answer, and that _you_ shouldn't worry about it. It didn't hurt you and this is all that matters.' With that, he excused himself and left the room, seemingly deep in his thoughts.

Clint buried his head in his hands and let out an irritated groan. There were so many things he could have thought about, so many things to do after what had happened, but his mind kept returning to the animal. It had been protecting him. Only him otherwise the others would have mentioned it.

When he had told Natasha about it, she thought he was hallucinating or mistaking it to one of the enemy's creatures. She said it had probably been an echo of the injury she caused him by banging his head into the rail. He was confused, and angry, and even anxious because of what Thor had told him.

At the same time the image of Rila appeared in his mind. She was probably still around, ready to spend some more time with him, so he fished out his cell phone from his pocket and dialed her number without giving it a second thought.

The next morning the entire Avengers team met in Central Park from where Thor and Loki were supposed to return to Asgard. The humans wore casual clothes, happy to leave their uniforms behind for a short while after the last couple of days. Natasha kept Clint occupied, talking and talking, barely stopping to take a breath. He was glad, because this way he wasn't thinking about the animal.

Everything went according to the plan, right until the very last minutes when a woman walked up to them, loudly clearing her throat on her way. All eyes turned to her, Thor's blue eyes narrowing at her sight. The young woman's black hair was pulled up into a ponytail and she was wearing a black and gold uniform, a gun hanging from the belt of her pants.

Clint bit the inside of his mouth, hoping no one noticed as all the muscles in his body tensed at her sight. What the was she doing there? Her pink eyes met his for a second, but she turned away so quickly that it seemed almost impossible for others to notice it.

'Ka'arilan, I heard one of yours is here,' Thor spoke up, breaking the awkward silence that had fallen on them.

The woman stopped between the Asgardians and the humans. 'Oh, really? Who was the little bird that couldn't keep their mouth shut?' she asked in a sweet, sing-song voice, looking over at Clint with a vicious look in her eyes.

'What do you want?'

Rila bit her lower lip, letting out a humming sound as she took a good look around, her gaze fixed on Loki when she spoke up again. 'Oh, you know, I heard what happened. I heard the rumors about your little brother surviving, then came the news of his war against Earth with the help of chitauri soldiers.'

'We handled it.'

'Oh, I'm sure you did. Only half of New York was destroyed in the process. But do you know what bothers me? That you're about to take him home. And do you have any idea what we call the ones like you back home?'

'Please, enlighten me.'

'I wouldn't use that tone if I were you Thor. But the answer is liars and traitors. Your father is just about to break an old arrangement. When it happens, I will declare war on Asgard.' Her voice was steady, cold and menacing.

Clint could barely watch the scene without speaking up. He didn't want the others to know about it. No. He didn't want Natasha to know any about his strange relationship with Rila. But then again she wasn't a human being at all, which obviously meant he had slept with an alien. He was sick to the stomach as the thought invaded his mind.

Rila took a couple of steps closer to Thor and Loki, her eyes shifting to the older brother. 'Let me take care of him, completing the arrangement. Everything will go back to normal and you won't have to babysit him.' Thor stayed quiet, and when she turned back to Loki, she met his raised eyebrows as he's looking down at her. 'Wait a second,' she started slowly. 'He doesn't know, does he?'

'We didn't have time to tell him,' admitted Thor.

'Didn't have time? I've been told shortly after it was made, so I know what to expect. What kind of people are you?'

Clint looked at Loki, whose eyes had changed. He wasn't surprised. He seemed angry, his eyes narrowing as Rila mentioned another lie from his family's part.

'I think I should just tell you then. Your father and mine agreed that one of his sons will become the emperor of Exilion when I take the throne. The purpose was keeping up a peaceful relationship between the planets, and since Thor was, or still is supposed to become the king of Asgard, you are the one we expect to rule with me,' she summarized quickly.

Her hands moved up to his chin, long fingers running along the cold metal. She was standing close to him, too close for Clint's liking. She was an alien, and she wasn't even his girlfriend, but this almost caring movement with that glint in Loki's eyes made him jealous. He didn't like her touching him. Not like this. Not as she slowly reached up, sliding her hands behind his head to get the metal thing off his mouth.

Once it was down, Loki raised his hand to massage his chin. 'Thank you. It was becoming really uncomfortable,' he said with a smile. '_Brother_,' he spitted out the word as he turned to Thor, 'I am not even surprised to find out there was something else neither of you believed I should know about.'

'Loki, we didn't want you to-'

He was cut off by the sarcastic laughter of his little brother. 'To be an emperor? To be the leader of a nation?'

'Loki,' Rila spoke up, taking a quick look around. Everyone was tense, ready to move and fight if he got out of control. 'We should go,' she added, her eyes fixed on Clint. She should have talked to him, but doing it now wouldn't do any good.

* * *

**A/N:** Again, thank you for the amount of favs and alerts. Wow. And also thanks to poplar-kat, Tinker178, Senia, Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967, ILuvOdie, aireagle92 and Nelle07 for leaving a review.


	4. Chapter 4

Clint was still trying to understand what had happened a couple of hours before. He and Natasha were walking towards the door of his apartment in silence, only accompanied by the clicking sound of the heels of her shoes echoing in the dark hallway. Once inside, Clint immediately left to bring something to drink; something strong to wipe out the memory of the last couple of days.

For Natasha, the biggest problem was the stranger taking Loki, the one they had barely been able to defeat. On the other hand Clint didn't care about Loki. He could only think about Rila, the woman he had somewhat trusted. She wasn't even human to start with.

Probably everything had been a lie, she just wanted to get close to S.H.I.E.L.D. in order to pull off such stunts in the future. He was stupid to trust her.

Just when he poured some vodka in the glasses, he heard Natasha's voice from the living room.

'Uhm, Clint, I didn't know you had a guest,' she called, keeping her voice down, but it was still alarmed.

'I don't,' he replied slowly, grasping the biggest knife he found nearby. Here he had thought about a nice afternoon off, having some well-deserved rest. What a fool he was. The moment he got next to his friend, he froze in his place. 'You've gotta be kidding me.'

There she was, standing in the door of his bedroom, leaning against the doorframe, seemingly wearing nothing else but one of his shirts. She looked tired, her skin unnaturally pale, and she rested her hands over her stomach. She seemed to be in far worse state than a few hours before.

'I'm sorry to break in like that but I had nowhere else to go,' she spoke up, her voice hoarse from dryness.

Natasha let out a questioning sound, reminding Clint she was there, standing right next to him. She hadn't known about any of this. About him having a friend with benefits, about the said woman being an alien. Well, he hadn't known this one either. But now there they were, and he had to admit Rila looked as if she belonged in the apartment. In his clothes after a long night.

Shaking his head, Clint took a step closer to her. 'Where's Loki?' he asked, his voice dangerously low.

Rila was taken aback at first as if she hadn't expected them to know about it. She looked genuinely confused for a few seconds but quickly regained her composure and answered in a quiet tone. 'From the fact you two are here, asking me about it, I guess you won, therefore you know it better than me.'

'Stop playing around! We were all there, we saw you taking him,' Natasha snapped at her. 'Where is he? Did he escape?'

'You're wrong, I couldn't have been there.'

'Any why not?' Natasha asked sarcastically.

'Because I've been hiding here since the day I saved your ass,' Rila replied, giving him a meaningful look. 'There wasn't much I could do, given my state,' she added a matter-of-factly, taking away her hands from her stomach.

Both of them fell immediately silent at the sight. Clint's eyes were glued to the dark red spot on his shirt that had been hidden by her hand the entire time. This was why she looked so tired and pale: she was seriously wounded.

'Do you believe me now?' she asked quietly.

* * *

Loki was bored.

The ship they were on was far too big for only two people, especially when the host felt like being alone, doing whatever she was usually doing in such a deserted place. He had already taken a look at the logs, in hope of finding something interesting enough to read, but nothing seemed to work. He was helplessly bored, and the only entertainment on the ship was the woman's company.

They had barely known each other, only met on a very few occasions. Still, his father thought he would be a good choice for an emperor next to her, therefore he decided to arrange a marriage without asking him first. Now was the perfect time to get to know one another, and he soon found himself roaming the perfectly clean hallways in search for her.

Rila was in a huge white room a floor below, standing behind a glass wall, in front of her, in the middle of the room two holograms fighting. One of them looked exactly like her, copying her movements. 'What are you doing?' he asked.

'Simulation over' she ordered, and the computer immediately turned the program off. 'I'm training,' she replied, turning to Loki.

'Through the holograms, you can't use your strength,' he stated as he walked closer the take a look at the wall. 'Wouldn't it be better to fight without them?' he asked with a small frown.

The woman let out a sigh. 'Strength is not the main point of this simulation. It's more about tactics,' she explained. 'What are you doing here anyway?'

Loki looked around in the room, his lips turning into a smile as he turned back to her. 'I'm bored. We are alone on this ship, and I don't even know how long we have to travel in this metal cage. You were the one bringing me here, so please, be a good host and entertain me.'

'Entertain you?' she repeated the last part with a malicious smile, slowly closing the distance between them. 'How old are you, Loki? Because, honestly, adults don't need to be entertained,' she said. 'You look like a grown up man, but I can tell you nothing more but a foolish, attention seeking child on the inside.'

'You don't know anything about me,' he growled.

'Oh, really? Why did you start this war against Earth? To prove everyone you are strong, therefore you are worth their love?' Loki was angry, but he didn't break. Their eyes met and they were looking at each other without moving an inch, right until Rila flashed a half smile at him. 'Thought so, but it's a good thing you didn't start a fight,' she pointed out happily.

He didn't understand it. A moment ago she seemed like a vicious little creature, and now there she was, smiling and speaking like nothing had happened. She started towards the door, tapping his arm on the way, indicating he should follow her. Quickly, Loki fell in step with her, and they were walking on the hallway, his eyes observing the metal walls around him.

'What was this all about?' he finally asked, breaking the silence.

Every single time he looked at her, he realized how ridiculously short she was compared to him. Of course, compared to humans, her size was perfectly normal as he could tell, but he had always expected leaders to be taller than this. But in this case she probably used her speed and technique to beat the others.

Rila shrugged. 'You are just about to be one of the rulers of Exilion. It's my home, and they are my people. They deserve a good emperor, Loki. I just want you to be as good as possible. So far I've been thinking about your weaknesses. You see, this endless desire to be loved is one of the things you have to change. I'm sure they love you, you just don't see it for some reason,'

Loki couldn't help but laugh at her. 'Oh, Ka'arilan, you think you know me?' he asked with a wide smile as he grabbed her hand and forced her to stop.. 'Let me tell you something: there is a lot more behind my decisions, more important things than being loved. You'd better remember that. Now, if you'll excuse me, I don't feel like roaming these hallways with you,' he said coolly then turned around and walked away.

'Does this mean you're not hungry?' Rila called after him, but he didn't answer.

* * *

**A/N:** Hi! So I had some time today, and wrote another chapter, I hope you like it. Crystal-Wolf-Guardain-967 and dfxcm: thank you for leaving a review!

But I've been wondering. My phone's always buzzing because so many of you have put this story on their alert (over fifty people after only three chapters and that's amazing) or favs list. Do you even like it? Because if it sucks, I won't update.

_Sweet Executioner_


	5. Chapter 5

Rila was tired, nauseous, in pain, and most importantly confused. The only good thing she felt was relief. Relief that Clint had asked Natasha to leave for now, to inform Fury about the situation.

The agent was defensive, and maybe a tiny little bit overprotective, because she saw Rila as a potential threat, someone who could kill Clint as soon as she walked out of the door. _She's not strong enough to hurt anyone._ That's what Clint had told her before she finally raised her hands in defeat and left.

The door closed and Rila let go of herself, finally giving up the battle against her own body and almost collapsed onto the floor. Clint hurried over to help her stand, and led her back into the bedroom, placing his hand carefully around her hips. She was weaker than she had expected to be after two days, but it was probably because the lack of proper medicine.

'I'm sorry,' she whispered, leaning her head against the man's shoulder as they lay on their backs next to each other. 'I didn't mean to cause you trouble.'

'You idiot.' That was all he said before he kissed her forehead. He didn't seem angry at all. Maybe he had only been a bit harsh because of Natasha and, now that she was gone, he was back to his normal self. The one Rila came to Earth for so many times before in the past. But maybe she was dead wrong. 'If you've been here all along, I have no right to be angry. You saved my life, so I should be grateful.'

'Francis, please, it's not-'

Clint let out an irritated groan as he sat up, his head buried in his hands. 'How many times do I have to tell you not to call me that?' he asked, looking down at her. 'I hate this name, I really do. Promise you won't call me that again, and I'll protect you from Fury.'

She wanted to giggle, but it turned into a painful yowl. Sudden movement and laughing was not an option for her at the moment. 'Why would you protect me? I mean, from what?' she asked quietly.

'Fury believes you took Loki, so I'm pretty sure he will want to take you in for interrogation. Especially now, that you're here without him.'

'And why would you protect me when even you don't believe me?' she suddenly asked, looking up at him. Seeing his questioning look, she let out a long sigh. 'Clint, please, I saw you hiding that gun under your pillow. You don't trust me. At all. The only reason you're acting like this is to keep me here, to keep me calm until Natasha brings Fury here.'

Clint didn't say anything, just sat there, looking down at her with a blank expression. She wasn't angry, since there was no real reason for her to be. There was only one way she could make him listen. Really listen to what she was about to say. With a painful turn, she took the gun out from under the pillow and handed it over to the man.

'Here,' she said. 'Keep it in your hand and shoot me when you think it's the best thing to do. I know you don't trust me because I lied about myself the whole time, and yes, you're right. Right now I just want to clear this situation, Clint, so please, tell me what happened, and then I'll explain everything. Deal?'

'Thor was about to take Loki back to Asgard,' he started the story, keeping the gun in his hand, absentmindedly playing with it as he talked. 'Then you appeared and said something about an arrangement,' he went on, telling her everything.

Rila was listening carefully, asking questions about the little details Clint didn't find important at all. She even asked if it recognized him. That was one of the most important ones, and Clint nodded in response. It had looked at him for a short moment before speaking up for the first time, and then gave him a long, cold look; one that probably everyone noticed.

'So it knows you,' Rila said, letting out a humming sound.

Clint raised his hands, one still gripping the gun, as he shook his head. 'Why are you keep referring to her as _it_?'

'Because it's not alive, that's why,' she replied a matter-of-factly. For her, it wasn't surprising, but seeing the confusion in Clint's eyes, she started her side of the story with this explanation. 'It's a replacement. A robotic replacement, to be exact, something we use for negotiations or on other occasions involving untrustworthy species. You call the ones like it androids, you know, with artificial intelligence and everything. We were able to find a way to copy the content of our brain into their system, so they think, speak and move the way we do, and they also have the copy of our memories. The pattern of making decisions is also the same,' she added proudly.

After years of planning and designing, they were finally enjoying the result of their work, and she was more than happy to boast of it to Clint. He was quiet, maybe too quiet, but it was probably because of the same unspoken question Rila had heard so many times before, and maybe the questions he had about this kind of technology.

'Which one of you was here with me?'

Shaking her head, Rila grabbed the pillow next to her and put it over her face. She didn't want to talk about it so she chose to hide from Clint. It was childish, but it was less painful than trying to get up and leave. She had told him she would talk about what happened when Fury got there, so now they were waiting in complete silence. It wasn't that bad... or wasn't supposed to be.

After a couple of minutes, she couldn't bear the silence anymore. When she put the pillow back to its place, she found Clint still sitting there, not taking his eyes off her. What did he expect? That she would sneak out if he looked away for a second?

'The reason why I found it important that the replacement recognized you is that it actually _shouldn't_ recognize you,' she explained quietly. 'I block every memory I have about you when I'm updating it. The last time I updated was right after you left that morning, so if it remembered saving you, someone updated it since then.'

'But who?'

'There's only one person I can think of, and it's more than a wild guess.'

* * *

'I didn't mean to be a jerk, so I'm terribly sorry if it came out like that.'

Loki turned around, looking the Rila who was standing a few feet away from him. She apologized. His lips turned into a satisfied smile at the thought before he turned back to the computer in front of him, his eyes scanning the text on the screen. He didn't really care about her presence, but there was something he had wanted to find out ever since they told him about the arrangement.

'Do you really care about that arrangement?' he finally asked, turning around to face her.

Raising her eyebrows, she cleared her throat. 'You know, Loki, apologizing is not exactly my style, so you should just... really appreciate that.' He didn't respond, so Rila raised her hands and gave up. 'Fine, I deserve it. No, I don't care about it. And yes, you were right, I know nothing about you, therefore I don't know if you will be a good emperor or not, so I shouldn't judge you.'

'Thank you,' he said theatrically. 'But if you don't care about it, why did you bring me here?'

She opened her mouth to answer, but stopped before saying even a word. Loki was glad to see her like that, almost like a vulnerable little girl trying to fulfill a role her father burdened her with. She was nothing like the cruel leader he had heard about before. She was nothing special. But still he wondered if it was him that made her act like that, if somewhere deep inside she was scared of her, and it was nothing more but primal fear changing her.

'What is it Ka'arilan?' he asked with fake concern in his voice, tilting his head slightly to the side. 'You can't answer a simple question? Where's the empress they are talking about? Where's that confident woman who came to _rescue_ me? Because right now all I see is a confused little girl.'

Pushing, pushing, pushing and pushing. That was the plan: pushing her until she finally got over the edge and broke. He was wondering what that would be like. Would she scream? Would she cry? Her reaction didn't give away anything yet, and he was thinking about what else to say. Oh, yes, he wanted to make her feel small.

'You say you don't care about the agreement, yet here I am,' he pointed out, his arms crossed in front of his chest. 'I have a feeling you need my help to rule your own little planet, because you are simply not good enough.'

'Trust me, Loki, I'm good,' she finally spoke up. She sounded confident, but it didn't surprise him. Maybe she was just pretending. 'It's just the fact I promised something and I usually keep my promises. Except when I don't but that's a different thing.'

'Are you sure that's all?'

She looked him the eye, pink eyes observing his blue ones as she thought about the answer. Then she let out a sigh and shrugged, walking over to the table next to him and sitting on top of it. 'Like I said, I'm good. It's just... Exilion is a neutral planet and that's why I still don't understand why my father wanted this arrangement in the first place. No one does, to be honest.'

'You said you knew about it from the very beginning. Why didn't you ask him?'

'Are you kidding me? We were trained to follow orders without asking unnecessary questions.'

For the very first time Loki noticed the same confusion in her eyes he had felt not so long ago. When he found out how important things in his life were nothing more but lies. Maybe, after all, she wasn't that bad. Maybe there was something they had in common and maybe her decision saved his life. The two options for him were being an emperor on an alien planet or being a prisoner on Asgard. What kind of fool would have gone home to those liars?

Maybe together they could do something. He's not Odin's son, he has nothing to do with Asgard so Rila has nothing to be afraid of. He's neutral... _almost_ neutral. He despises his so-called father and brother, those liars who humiliated him. Why making it look like they still cared for him? His brother had come to Earth as if he cared about him, as if he was happy to see he was still alive.

'Then let's prove everyone it was a good decision,' he said quietly, his lips turning up into a mischievous smile.

* * *

**Author's note:** Hello! Thank you for the reviews, favs and alerts. I changed the summary, so now you can see "hints of Loki/OC" at the end. I want to keep it on a platonic level, and I want the damaged and confused Loki from Thor rather than the psycho in The Avengers. But I don't know, after the next chapter I think I'll post a poll about something...

I hope you liked it. Please, leave a review and tell me what you think,

_Sweet Executioner_


	6. Chapter 6

'Would you explain what happened, Miss... Rila?' Fury asked, standing in the living room with his hands behind his back.

The woman narrowed her eyes at her name, but stayed calm nevertheless. 'I would rather you calling me Ka'arilan. That is my name, and you should show some respect.'

For long seconds that felt like an eternity, they were staring at each other. Clint was stuck in the middle of this twisted conversation while also feeling Natasha's eyes on him. She was angry, taking his past actions as a betrayal. Was it really that? Being with someone who happened to be an alien? Or was it the fact it wasn't her? But Natasha was proud in that sense, keeping emotions she found childish seemingly out of her life until she happened to be controlled by them.

Fury raised an eyebrow as he took a deep breath. 'Respect?' he asked coolly. 'How could I show respect, when in my eyes you are nothing more but an alien who kidnapped a potentially dangerous prisoner?'

'How dare you,' she growled, her eyes turning red and fangs growing a little as she dug her claws into the armchair. Her breathing was ragged and she slowly stood up without even feeling the pain in her stomach. 'You should be more careful, Director Fury, because this is the state where my pain threshold is really high. I might be injured but right now I don't feel a thing. So which road will you take? It's your choice, be wise.'

Clint didn't know what to do, what to say. Whichever side he would choose, he was already screwed. Yes, he didn't trust Rila, but he wasn't ready to turn his back on her. Not yet. She still meant something for him, and he still had the urge to be protective, even if he knew he didn't have to be.

A couple of weeks ago she had been the only person to be able to make him forget about his other life. _This_ life, the one with constant fighting against an enemy, the one covered in an endless web of lies. Somewhere, deep inside, she was just a normal woman with emotions, and the ability to love, to care.

She had brought him breakfast, and in exchange he almost shot her. There were times when he was in a bad mood or under a lot of stress and she stayed until it he needed her. So why not helping her now, when she was in need of some backup?

'Just let her explain,' he finally spoke up.

All eyes turned on him. Natasha didn't believe what she had just heard, and Fury seemed just as shocked. Of course, he had never been like this. He was a good little soldier, following every single order without asking questions. But not now, not in these circumstances

'I think she can explain everything, sir. I've already heard a part of it,' he added.

Fury shrugged and leaned against the back of the couch, giving Ka'arilan an expecting look. She took a deep breath and closed her eyes, slowly turning back into her normal human form. The first thing she explained was the replacement, repeating the explanation Clint had already heard, then looked down at her hand and started talking again.

'The only person who might be able to find a backdoor in the system to access the program in the replacement's brain, and even modify it, is the same one who attacked me,' she said, still not looking up at them. 'He probably wounded me to keep me away from whatever he's planning. The target is obviously Loki and, knowing Xav and his hate for the guy, he'll die in the end if I don't warn them.'

'Why does he hate Loki?'

'This, Ms. Romanoff, is none of your business,' the alien snapped at Natasha.

Clint let out a tired sigh and ran his fingers through his hair. 'Rila, please,' he asked.

'I'm sorry, but this is something I'm not going to talk about.'

'Then tell me this, Ka'arilan,' Fury spoke up, taking a threatening step towards her. 'How are you planning to warn them?'

The woman's lips turned into the kind of satisfied smirk that Clint hadn't seen on her before. This Rila wasn't the one he had known. This one was the same as that replacement, cold, malicious and demanding. 'Xav brought another ship here, so the replacement and Loki can leave without taking mine. To put it short and simple, let's just say I have a remote control on that ship.'

'I can't let you go,' Fury stated. 'Not until I think you are dangerous.'

'Don't worry. I will cooperate until you don't throw me in a cell,' she replied, flashing an arrogant smile at the director. 'Actually this is why I wanted to ask Ms. Romanoff to come with me. I'm sure she would shoot me without hesitation if I tried anything.'

Fury turned to Natasha and nodded. She didn't seem particularly happy about it, but did as she was ordered. 'And where did you land that ship?' she asked, slightly tilting her head to one side.

Rila let out a quiet chuckle. 'It's in orbit around the Earth. It wouldn't land it here because, and don't take it as an offense, I don't trust humans. They just love to take things that aren't theirs,' she added with a wide smile as she strapped a device on her wrist. 'Can we go? I start to feel the pain again and I need my painkillers.'

'How will we get on that thing?'

'Please,' was all Rila said before she walked over to Natasha and grabbed her wrist before pushing a few buttons on the device. They disappeared in a bright light, leaving Clint alone with the director.

Fury looked at him as he always did, and this emotionless cover was the thing that scared Clint the most; not knowing what was going through his mind. Then all of sudden he moved closer to him, his expression now serious. 'I believe you have some explaining to do yourself, agent Barton.' What was he waiting for, what did he want to hear? Clint thought about where to start, but soon Fury helped him out. 'Agent Romanoff told me she was here, wearing your clothes when you arrived. Why did she come here from all places?'

Where should he start this part of the story? The day he had gone out for a drink with a friend and came home with a stranger? Or should he tell him about the time they spent together? Images of those nights and days flashed through his mind, reminding him of the very reason he was with her. Or rather reasons: her carefree and mysterious personality, being okay with this no-strings-attached relationship and, of course, her stamina that was undeniably important when it came to releasing stress.

But these dirty little secrets were bound to be kept in the dark and behind closed doors. Fury had nothing to with this. 'I kind of know her, sir,' he finally replied. 'Every once in a while, when I was off-duty and she was around we met. It wasn't serious at all.'

'I don't care if it was serious or not, agent, what I want to know is how couldn't you realize she was an alien sooner?'

'She looked human, acted like a human, and even understood references,' he explained, referring to Thor's disadvantage when it comes to these things. 'There were no signs of her being an alien.'

'I want to know everything, but I don't want to lock her up until it's absolutely necessary. She seems to trust you so it will be your job to get everything out of her. Be her friend or lover, I don't care, just make her talk.'

'Yes, sir,' Clint replied. He tried to remain calm as he excused himself and went to the kitchen to make a cup of coffee. He couldn't tell Fury to leave, but he couldn't stay in the same room with him. Rila trusted her, but he didn't exactly trust her anymore. That would be a really interesting thing to do like this...

* * *

Rila found informing him about the social structure of Exilion important, so for once in his life, Loki sat in complete silence, listening to someone without interrupting. The number of civilians was way lower than those who served in the military, that's why Ka'arilan had to appoint a leader for them every other year.

There was a lot to learn but he was ready. Once he officially became the emperor he would go back to Asgard with glory, showing them he was born to rule. With one of the most vicious armies in the universe behind him he would turn Asgard into a servant.

His dreams of revenge were coming alive and without doubt everyone would kneel before him in the end. Rila was the key and earning her trust was the first step towards success.

'You mentioned some kind of a combat training,' she suddenly said and he nodded in response. 'Good. I'd like to see what you're capable of.'

'Why?'

'Because if you're bad, I'll have to train you,' she replied with a shrug as she stood up. 'Come on, this way.'

Loki followed Rila out of the room, walking next to her in the hallway. She was a soldier, probably trained from a very young age, but so was he. All the playful fights with Thor as a kid, all the mental and physical training on Asgard made him confident about this little test. He glanced down at the woman. She was short and slim, and this probably made her quick, and since she wasn't muscular, she definitely relied on her technique over her strength.

He had a plan; letting her win at first, getting to know her style before attacking and proving he was better. Rila took him to a large training room, equipped with different kinds of weapons. She chose a wooden sword-like thing, and threw one at him as well.

Three minutes later he already knew she was good.

Five minutes later he started to admit letting her win would probably mean being beaten up by a woman.

Seven minutes later he decided to stick to the original plan and let her.

Rila was lost in the heat of the fight, throwing away her weapon and finding a way to use Loki's against him. She took it from him and grabbed his wrist, twisting his arm until she could throw him on the ground, sitting on top of him, holding the wooden weapon to his throat as if she was about to strangle him.

'You're good,' he told him, smiling up at her like a lunatic.

She suddenly stopped for a second, and her eyes became unfocused. When she looked down at him again, her eyebrows raised. 'Whoa, what have you two been doing?' she asked in a surprised tone, looking around to see where she was.

'What are you talking about?'

Rila looked back at him and let out a nervous chuckle. 'Oh, yes, sorry,' she said, getting off him. 'I'm Ka'arilan. I mean not the one you're looking at, but the real one who's still back on Earth.'

'Are you alright?'

'Oh, I am. But you guys are in trouble, so we need to talk.'

* * *

**Author's note: **Hello! As you could see I changed the title of the story. I saw the music video for Kelly Clarkson's Dark Side, and since I love that song, I started to think. The lyrics are perfect for the story - I mean for what's coming.

Another thing: today or tomorrow I'm going to upload a new story. It's gonna be a two-part miniseries with short chapters. The first one will be called '_Psychopath in his service_' and it'll be a Loki/OC fic, while the second one is titled '_Mutant and proud_' which will possibly be a Steve/OC one.

Since I'm just about to finish college in a month, I don't know how soon I'll be able to update, but I'll try - maybe with extremely short chapters until I have some proper time.

Anyway, thanks for the reviews, alerts and favs, they mean a lot.

_Sweet Executioner_


	7. Chapter 7

**Chapter 7**

Rila led Loki to the conference room, her boots squeaking with every step she took. Something had changed; not only her personality and behavior, but the way she moved as well. She was a different person, but everything was confusing at the moment. They were in trouble, she had said, but why?

'Sit,' she ordered and took the biggest chair at the head of the long table. 'I don't have long, so I'll be quick. This,' she started, pointing at her body, 'is an android with the content of my brain. She can act and exist on her own after being activated, without me controlling her. Now the thing is that someone wants to kill you so, only to protect me, he sent the replacement to get and take you to Exilion where he can execute both of you right away. Or only you, I don't know about that part right now.'

Loki leaned back in the chair, eyeing the woman with a skeptic look. 'And why would you help me?'

'Because I don't need a war between my planet and Asgard,' she replied with a shrug. 'And the humans don't exactly trust you… or me, for that matter. They think I freed a lunatic mass murderer.'

'Is that what I am to you?' he asked without missing a beat, genuinely interested in the awaiting answer. Was he really nothing more but a monster? A madman who kills for fun? Was that really how others saw him?

The empress folded her arms over her chest, leaning back in the chair as if they were having a casual conversation. 'You killed way too many civilians, Loki.'

'They don't count.'

'They do, and that's the point! You know, I have no idea what is going on in that crazy mind of yours, but hear me out. You started a war for nothing, therefore you are dangerous. Do you think my people would let you rule them? Do you think they would accept a war criminal as their emperor? I don't think so and they deserve someone way better than you.'

Loki's eyes slightly widened at her reasoning, but he didn't say a word. There was no need. So in the end he leaned back as well, resting his hands on the table and listening to whatever she wanted to tell him. She didn't hesitate, and continued after several moments of silence.

'Alright, listen. I am going to send a few commands to the replacement, so it will stop the ship until we get to you. As far as I know you can help me trick those waiting for you, making sure it seems like you were still on the ship. Is that correct?'

'Yes,' he replied slowly.

'Good,' she nodded. 'Well then, see you later in person. I'm out. Bye,' she waved with a smile before her eyes became unfocused again.

Unlike the last time, it took her long minutes to come back to reality. Until she was sitting there as if she was turned off, Loki walked over to her to take a closer look. So she was an android, the combination metal and synthetic flesh with artificial intelligence and copies of someone else's memories, yet she seemed real.

Carefully, he pulled the android's black hair back, examining her face, and concentrating on all the little details. She could perfectly mimic emotions; she could smile, frown, wrinkle her nose and do everything he could. An engineering masterpiece.

Loki was astonished by the sight and soon gave in to the urge to touch her. His fingers touched her eyebrow, and slid down through her cheek, right until he ran his thumb over her lips, testing if it felt like a real one. It was soft, but didn't feel like a synthetic material.

When her eyes became focused again, he jumped a little, quickly pulling away his hand. She looked up at him, her expression strangely serious. 'So they are on their way to rescue you.'

'How...'

'My system recorded everything,' she replied with a nonchalant wave of her hand. 'She doesn't want you to become the emperor,' she suddenly stated.

'It seems like it.'

'It's either you taking the throne or going back to Asgard and face whatever is waiting for you,' Ka'arilan noted, obviously thinking about something. 'You have to stay with her on Exilion.'

He was confused. If he was right, this android was almost her perfect copy, but then why was she thinking about this matter in a completely different way? 'Why do you want me to be the emperor?' he finally voiced the question lingering in his mind.

Ka'arilan only shrugged before she answered. 'Because she's keeping secrets from me. I have noticed that certain days or hours are missing, I simply can't remember them. So when I got the update with the memory of her protecting that human, I knew he was the reason. Her emotions, the thoughts she had… it wasn't that hard to figure out.'

'And you think this is a problem.'

'It's more than a problem. She's… irresponsible.'

'And what do you want to do about it?'

Loki watched as the android took a deep breath and ran her fingers through her hair, folding them behind her neck. She was breathing and, as far as he knew, that was something a robot didn't do. Her pink eyes met his blue ones and he knew it. He had seen the same expression before, when she was talking about training. Ka'arilan wanted to teach him something.

'You will help me, won't you?' he asked with a half smile, and her lips also curved into a smile as she nodded.

* * *

It was strange, watching as the alien lay on a bed-like piece of furniture with her eyes closed, while a metal device was shining above her head with bright lights. She didn't move but as soon as she connected to the android a big screen turned on and Natasha could see and hear everything the alien did.

She was acting like a soldier, keeping the conversation short and to the point. At least this way they knew she wasn't messing around, and really did mean to cooperate. But Loki didn't say he would help. Why was she so sure that there is no reason to force a straight answer or promise out of him?

Ten minutes later they were back in Clint's living room, telling the men about the short conversation. Fury thoughtfully nodded, glancing over at the archer who concentrated on his cup of steaming coffee. He was desperately trying to stay invisible, even though he had already known what the director wanted him to do. To go with Rila, make it look like he was still her lover, the only human who somewhat trusted her.

When he looked up at her for a second, he noticed that she was busy pushing some buttons on the device on her wrist, but her expression told him something else, too: she was nervous. One moment she raised her head and looked over at him, but quickly turned her gaze away when their eyes met.

Fury was the one speaking up first, asking Rila if it was alright with her if Clint accompanied her, only to make sure she doesn't do anything stupid. She didn't object and soon he found himself on the ship.

They were alone in a metal cage, traveling further and further from Earth and any kind of help. It was clean, sterile, and he didn't feel comfortable.

'I'm sorry,' she suddenly said, but Clint only raised an eyebrow. 'I don't think you happily volunteered to come with me.'

He walked over to her, placing his hand behind her neck. When his fingertips touched her skin, he involuntarily shivered. No, he still didn't trust her the way he had done. 'What makes you think that?'

'Clint, please,' she said, her eyes full of sadness. 'You don't have to lie.'

'I didn't want to come, true, but after all that happened... we need to talk. I need you. I need you to ease the pain I feel, to make me forget everything I had done.'

'You make it sound like you were a bad person,' she noted with a small smile.

Clint shrugged and rested his forehead against hers. He had never ever felt this bad in her presence before. One part of him still loved her in some way, but the other one wanted to rip her apart for betraying him.

'Alright, what do you want to hear?' she suddenly asked as if she was able to read his mind.

'What is it about Loki ruling with you?'

And with that, Rila started talking. She told him everything about the agreement, and finally he understood that this wasn't what she wanted. Rila didn't want, she didn't need Loki to rule, but it was something her father had decided without asking her. Then he asked her if she wanted Loki to keep their part of the agreement, if she would go against her father's will to keep the Asgardian away from the throne.

The answer shocked him.

It was something he wasn't expecting to hear, something that made the entire situation even more confusing.

'To be honest, I came to Earth before Loki's attack to tell you the truth... and to finally ask you something. To see if you would come, becoming the emperor of my planet.'

* * *

**A/N: **Hello! Thanks for the reviews, favs, alerts, etc. This one was a really short chapter, and I'm sorry, but I'm going on a two weeks long hiatus.

But then my finals at college will be over so I'll have time to write.

_Sweet Executioner_


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